Mahyar Amouzegar, dean of the College of Engineering, has published a new edition of “Intelligent Automation and Systems Engineering.” This edition revises and extends forty-nine research articles written by top researchers. Topics range from engineering mathematics to computational biology, serving researchers and graduates students with an invaluable source of information and reference as they work with engineering technologies and physical science and applications.

Amouzegar serves as one of three editors of “Intelligent Automation and Systems Engineering.” Written by prominent researchers, the text offers a thorough reference on Intelligent Automation and Systems Engineering.

Amouzegar also serves on the executive board for the Center for Metropolitan Transportation Research, the advisory board for the Center for the Commercial Deployment of Transportation Technologies, and the Military Application Society Council. Mahyar is the immediate past president of the Western Decision Sciences Institute, a Fellow of the Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications, and a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

The Cal Poly Pomona Foundation Inc. has won an award for its Innovation Village research and technology park.

The Association of University Real Estate Officials presented the award of excellence for an outstanding real estate project at its annual conference in Nashville last month. The award recognizes an innovative, cost-effective project that has had a significant positive impact on a university and is a model for others to follow. This is the first time the foundation has received an award since it joined AUREO in 2000.

Founded in 1983, AUREO is an organization of more than 160 universities and colleges throughout the United States and Canada that have staff dedicated to servicing the real estate needs of their respective higher education institutions.

Innovation Village is a 65-acre property on the Cal Poly Pomona campus that is currently home to 500,000 square feet of Class A office, research and development, and laboratory space. Tenants include Southern California Edison (SCE) and The American Red Cross.

SCE houses its Transmission and Distribution Business Unit at the village and has close ties with the university’s colleges of science, engineering, and business. The American Red Cross operates its Western Region Blood Distribution and Processing Facility, serving the western United States and hosts an extensive blood library here.

Innovation Village is creating high paying jobs in Los Angeles County: the mean wage was $79,850 in 2011, in contrast with the countywide mean of $50,876. In addition, when the property is fully leased, it is estimated to generate economic output of $1.2 billion to the local economy.

The foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that operates as a recognized auxiliary of the California State University.

(Photo: Sandra Vaughan-Acton, director of real estate development for the Cal Poly Pomona Foundation, with the AUREO award.)

Eva Anneli Adams, executive director of global initiatives at Cal Poly Pomona, is one of five authors featured in the International Leadership Journal’s Summer 2013 edition. This prestigious peer-reviewed, online journal is published three times a year by Thomas Edison State College in Trenton, New Jersey.

Adams’ paper entitled, "Context, Culture, and Cognition: The Significant Factors of Global Leadership Research," centers on the sociology of leadership and explores existing research with a focus on the social and cultural context of leadership.

The featured piece also examines common elements woven throughout past and present global leadership research and focuses on how leaders became who they are, and why they exhibit certain characteristics.

Adams joined the College of the Extended University in June 2012 as executive director of global initiatives, overseeing the administration and activities at the International Center and the Cal Poly English Language Institute. In addition, she manages international program development and administration of the college's global education programs.

For the eighth time since the club's inception, the Finance Society received a superior merit award from Financial Management Association (FMA) International, which has chapters on three continents. It is the highest honor a chapter can receive and is awarded to the top 5 percent of FMA clubs.

The Finance Society organized tours of financial corporations, hosted a simulated stock market competition and encouraged members to attend networking events with CFA Society of Orange County, a group of professional investment managers. The club also brought 12 speakers – a mixture of alumni and recruiters – who offered job search tips and insight into different finance careers.

“I came here as a transfer student and I thought it would be beneficial to join the club so I could meet some of my classmates,” says Jonathan Silva, who will serve as Finance Society president this year. “What I didn’t expect was the networking. I’ve collected so many business cards and established good relationships with employers.”

The group is planning more learn-by-doing activities, including vying for the opportunity to run CFA Society of Orange County’s student-managed fund and participating in the investment research challenge sponsored by the CFA Institute.

“The FRL department is very proud of the accomplishments of the executive board members of the Finance Society and its members,” says Finance Professor Majed Muhtaseb who also serves as one of the club’s advisors. “I congratulate them for setting the bar so high and a job very well done.”

A third-year political science student, Graves served as Associated Students Inc. attorney general during the 2012-13 academic year. He was part of voter registration drives on campus, in which nearly 2,000 students registered for the first time, and helped update ASI's Articles of Incorporation in November.

The CSSA is an independent nonprofit student association governed by board of directors comprised of representatives from all 23 California State University campuses. Its mission is to maintain and enhance access to affordable, quality public higher education for Californians.

In his position, Graves will lead CSSA board meetings and the internal affairs committee. Some of his duties include ensuring that meetings run smoothly by preparing agendas and supporting the executive officers. Meetings are held once a month at alternating California universities. He will also attend CSU Board of Trustee meetings held in Long Beach, Calif.

Los Olivos has taken fourth place for excellence in dining services from the National Association of College and University Food Services (NACUFS).

The annual Loyal E. Horton Awards are named after the founder and former president of NACUFS and present an opportunity for university dining services to receive recognition and learn from each other.

Los Olivos entered under the “Residential Dining Concepts” category, which was open to all-you-can-eat campus facilities. Applicants were required to focus on a number of topics, including the facility’s menu, merchandising and presentation, marketing habits, nutrition and wellness, student roles and sustainability. Applicants had to send a comprehensive book filled with detailed descriptions, examples, photographs and marketing materials. Los Olivos personnel and the Cal Poly Pomona Foundation’s marketing department worked on the project for more than a month.

To determine a university’s ranking, a panel of seven judges analyzed factors such as menu variety and food quality. To receive an award, campuses must earn at least 70 percent of the possible points. Cal Poly Pomona was entered in the Large School category, which includes the likes of Cornell, Yale, Harvard and Notre Dame. Los Olivos received high scores across all topics, particularly for their diverse menu: meal options including a Mongolian grill, taqueria, American grill, deli, salad bars and five other platforms. Additionally, Los Olivos operates on a four-week cycle, which means that students receive a different meal each day for four weeks, ultimately decreasing monotony—a subtopic in the menu category.

“Resident students truly appreciate the extras that we offer weekly and monthly to break up what could be considered monotony,” says Patrick McCoy, general manager of resident dining. “Cal Poly Pomona’s Foundation Dining Services’ meal plans also offer resident students the flexibility to go to Vista Market and other dining venues on campus.”

The university received a dining pin and an award at the NACUFS conference in Minneapolis in July.

Sean Yu, a managing director with Morgan Stanley and a Cal Poly Pomona alum, returned to campus in May to serve as “Professor for a Day.”

Yu, who graduated with a double major in political science management and human resources, spoke about “Important Habits for a Successful Manager” to more than 100 students in the MHR301 – Principles of Management class.

In addition to his bachelor’s degrees, Yu also earned a master’s degree in international relations from the University of Chicago. He serves as a wealth advisor and portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley and has donated a number of scholarships to Cal Poly Pomona, including The Sean Yu International Scholarship in honor of business Professor LianLian Lin.

English Associate Professor Liam Corley has taken second place in an international poetry competition for his poem, “At the Children’s Hospital.”

Corley will receive £500 ($765) from the Hippocrates Open International Prize for Poetry and Medicine. Founded in 2009, the contest is one of the most valuable poetry prizes in the world, with a yearly purse of £15,000 ($23,000). The field included poets from England, Scotland, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand and the United States.

The winners were announced May 18 at the International Symposium on Poetry and Medicine in London.

A group of Cal Poly Pomona students has received an honorable mention from the Environmental Protection Agency for a concept they developed to control water pollution through landscaping.

As rainwater makes its way from the clouds to the ground, and then along streams and waterways on its way to the ocean, it picks up a variety of pollutants from sources such as agriculture and automobiles. The presence of paved surfaces makes the problem worse by allowing storm runoff to flow quickly toward the sea without soaking into the ground, a process that also depletes local aquifers.

The EPA’s Campus RainWorks Challenge asked university students to think about what could be done on their campuses to reduce polluted runoff. Landscape architecture graduate students Carlos Flores, Hieu Nguyen, and Elena Tucci, along with Professor Weimin Li, developed a concept that would place a series of ponds, wetlands and bioswales (artificial streams) across the campus. New pathways would guide pedestrians and bicyclists through the semi-natural area as they make their way onto campus.

The winners of the challenge were:

University of Florida, Gainesville — first place, large institution

Illinois Institute of Technology — first place, small institution

Missouri University of Science and Technology — second place, large institution

University of Arizona, Tucson — second place, small institution

Other campuses receiving honorable mentions are Kansas State University, Columbia University and University of Texas-Arlington.